Engine bay flood
Winya_wynah
Tue 9 Dec 2008 21:02
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Flying the correct ensign at last having managed to
untie the stars and stripes standing on the winch with the end of the
kitchen knife as I was too short to reach, gave that to my new
American friends at Hodges Creek. Have the red ensign on a flag pole
as I couldn't tie knots with the point of the knife!
Finally got out of Hodges Creek yesterday to meet
Marion and Sue who are chartering with Sunsail (in a different yacht having
discovered diesel in the fresh water tanks of the 1st one!!) The choice
was Cooper Island and all went well until the wind picked up and the swell crept
around the point. A rock and roll night was had by all and the forecast
was only to get worse so between us this morning we decided to brave the
channel and head for Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour for some respite. I
followed a bit behind and about 2 miles away from destination came below to
prepare only to see water between the floor boards and on closer inspection to
find I had a flooded engine bay spilling out into the other sections of the
boat. Automatic bilge pump hadn't started yet so started the 1st pump,
couldn't see much water coming out the side so tried the manual pump didn't seem
to work either!!
Having heard Marian and Sue ahead talking to
the dock master I called them to tell them of my dilemma and to be ready for my
arrival. Damsel in distress call went out when they were safely on the
dock and by the time I arrived there were people waving me in, telling me where
to turn, grabbing the lines I had prepared on the rails and nudging fenders into
place. Thanks Sue and Marian for lining up so many men in such a
short time.
Baling out was next and engine compartment was
first, it soon became obvious that with the engine on I was making no
impression on the water level so stopped that and started to see a change in the
level as buckets of water went out over the back. Having
mopped all sections up we started the engine again
and found water dripping into the well below. The engineer here at
the yacht harbour is in Tortola today so tomorrow morning I have a date with
Chris to assess the problem. Drying out a treat in the strong winds
cutting across the bows and spinning the Duogen like a dervish. Thoroughly
tested in wind mode we now have to wait for water mode, so far very
good.
Now to clean myself up as Winny is as good as she's
going to get for now.
All Best Alyson
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