More San Diego fun, went sailing ( charter) - engine died...

[Chris & Lenore]

Had a great afternoon on a Catalina 40 with SailSanDiego.com (whale watching).

Didn't see any whales but the 15 - 20 kt wind and large swell made for a great sail. Well, great for my wife and I - not so great for the other four non-sailors

On the way back the engine wouldn't stay running. It would start, run about 10 seconds and die. I figured it was crud in the tank that was shaken up from the three hours of pounding around in the waves. The skipper decided to sail her all the way back. Unfortunately, the wind wasn't right to make it all the way and we ended up having to tack out of the docking area and wait for a tow.

That was fun - tacking between two rows of multi-million dollar yachts in a space of about four boat lengths wide. To make it more challenging, there was a kids sailing school using the same area. We called the instructor over to let them know we had limited manouverability.

Long story short, the skipper did an excellent job on just the jib and we worked our way out of the dock complex. One of the other boats finally towed us to the slip.

We had a great time but the skipper might have dirty shorts...

Chris

 

[31seahorse]

Re: More San Diego fun, went sailing ( charter) - engine die

Those experiences are what we need to label "Sailing Adventures". That is especially true when things work out right and safely. Enjoy your stay.

 

[rfrye1]

Typical day in Feb sailing in SD, except the docking part. Glad you landed safely. I had a similar issue a few years back. Gunk growing in my fuel tank stirred up. Fortunately my engine would run for 3-4 min at low RPMs before dying. So I just timed things accordingly as I entered the marina. Ended up costing me $500-600 to have someone come and put a 5" hole in my fuel tank and polish my fuel and clean my tank out. So now I always remember to add additive to the fuel.
Have fun in SD!

 

[rardiH36]

Despite the recalcitrant engine, by your narrative and the pic you included, seems that you otherwise a superb sailing day. Much better than a February 27 on Lake Ontario!

I'm about 500 miles up the coast from SD. By the shape of the clouds in your picture, looks like our West Coast "big storm" (local newscast weather people tend to hyperbolize anything other than perfect sunshine as a big "storm") afforded a rare perfect wind day for this time of year.

 

[Rick D]

Couple of Questions...

So what do you think of SoCal sailing contrasted to home?

Did you get over to SGYC?

 

[Chris & Lenore]

So what do you think of SoCal sailing contrasted to home? Did you get over to SGYC?

I think I need to come back and spend a few months we're more "cruiser" and usually spend a lot of time anchored out - not sure where you do that around San Diego, but I'm sure there are abundant destinations. The waves sure had a longer period - much more comfortable than the stuff we get on Lake Erie.

Never made it to SGYC but we'll probably be back in September (another conference). Hope to stay an extra week this time.

Had a great time.

Chris