I just wanted to write a public Thank You to Maine Sail. I was down in Puerto Rico for the last 10 days, and I had an opportunity to borrow a distant relative's boat (for the cost of cleaning the bottom which he claims was cleaned 2 months ago, yet had 4-12 inches of dense soft growth on it, and resulted in countless little stings over my neck and arms, and even my lip, there were sea anemone's growing all over it) for an over night sail from Salinas to Isla Caja De Muertos (Coffin Island). When we were approaching the anchorage the diesel wouldn't start so we anchored under sail. Since the owner wasn't with us (not that he knows much about engines anyway), After securing the sails it was up to me to try and fire up the engine.
After about 15 minutes of trying to make heads or tails of what the issue could be, and not really having any ideas, I gave MS a call on his cell (which he gave me a year or so ago when we were supposed to meet for lunch while he was in the area, and thankfully I saved to my phone).
He spent about 10-15 minutes on the phone explaining all the possible issues and what I should do, and left me with a good understanding of what, in theory, needed to be done.
Unfortunately a lack of reliable internet access (we were 7 miles off the southern coast of Puerto Rico) prevented me from being able to track down the information he gave me clues on (for example, I was unable to confirm which model Perkins it was, and where all the fuel system bleed screws are at).
Ultimately the lack of connectivity, and the desire to head ashore to explore the island caused me to toss the towel and give up on it. We headed ashore and hiked up to the lighthouse to try and catch the sunset (which we missed by just a few minutes).
The next day we sailed off the anchor and all the way back onto the mooring in Salinas. Navionics on my phone: Not my first choice, and certainly no what I would rely on for my own vessel's primary navigation, but it proved to be a good enough solution for this over night trip. Here are the tracks from our little adventure.
Even though I wasn't able to get the engine started, Maine Sail still provided a great amount of useful advice and help so I could at least understand what the situation was, and explain to the owner when we got back (although explaining the Jib that blew out on us on the last tack south before entering the harbor channel was a little harder
)
THANKS!
After about 15 minutes of trying to make heads or tails of what the issue could be, and not really having any ideas, I gave MS a call on his cell (which he gave me a year or so ago when we were supposed to meet for lunch while he was in the area, and thankfully I saved to my phone).
He spent about 10-15 minutes on the phone explaining all the possible issues and what I should do, and left me with a good understanding of what, in theory, needed to be done.
Unfortunately a lack of reliable internet access (we were 7 miles off the southern coast of Puerto Rico) prevented me from being able to track down the information he gave me clues on (for example, I was unable to confirm which model Perkins it was, and where all the fuel system bleed screws are at).
Ultimately the lack of connectivity, and the desire to head ashore to explore the island caused me to toss the towel and give up on it. We headed ashore and hiked up to the lighthouse to try and catch the sunset (which we missed by just a few minutes).
The next day we sailed off the anchor and all the way back onto the mooring in Salinas. Navionics on my phone: Not my first choice, and certainly no what I would rely on for my own vessel's primary navigation, but it proved to be a good enough solution for this over night trip. Here are the tracks from our little adventure.
Even though I wasn't able to get the engine started, Maine Sail still provided a great amount of useful advice and help so I could at least understand what the situation was, and explain to the owner when we got back (although explaining the Jib that blew out on us on the last tack south before entering the harbor channel was a little harder
)THANKS!
