We'd been pushing into 15 - 20kts on the nose and accompanying swell most of the day with motor and all sails hard on but finally arrived at the small gap between North and South Verde Islands north of Puerto Princessa, Palawan.
With darkness falling we turned into the 2m swell and dropped our sails before turning back toward the gap in the reef. Our Garmin charts were hopeless for this area but we had Navionics on our ipad which gave a bit more detail and seemed to indicate a narrow entrance but clear passage if we kept somewhere in the middle.
With Robin on the bow trying to identify the various fish traps scattered across the entrance and daylight fading fast we were feeling pretty relieved and looking forward to a sheltered anchorage.
…and then the motor died
…shortly followed by the wind
There is that 'frozen moment' when you look your partners face and see that blank, blood drained expression of 'ohhh ^^&*(((#####'
Fortunately it only lasted a minute or so and about to enter the surf line, we unfurled the headsail and drifted shoreward as the wind dropped along with our hull speed. We were committed as there was simply nowhere else to go and there was no room or hull speed to turn back out to sea.
…and then I spotted a mast sticking up behind the mangroves.
….grabbing the VHF we called them up as we drifted past the first breaker and tried to pick our way through the gloom.
To my amazement they had a listening watch and were quick to inform us that we were only a few metres from running aground. The deeper water, contrary to the charts, was up hard against the reef and the large fish traps - not in the middle at all.
Hull speed is now 1.5kts and the head sail is collapsing as the wind dies altogether and we do a radical turn and hug the edge. Yep! - deeper water.
We had just enough forward momentum to make the anchorage and drop the anchor astern of a white American flagged sloop called 'BEFORE' who had been guiding us in.
Standing on the bow of Australis and thanking them profusely, they yelled back 'you're a CSY aren't you?'
We replied, 'a close cousin - an Antigua' to which they replied:
'Do you know a vessel called 'Soggy Paws'? - we've been cruising with them on and off in the pacific.'
Ahhhhh it's a small world and to Sherry & Dave, Lee & Richard on BEFORE send their best regards!
Turns out we had taken on some dodgy fuel and the primary filters had glooped up. After a change of primary and secondary filters and switching to the good fuel in our forward tank and our 90hp Ford Lehman was humming along nicely by lunchtime the following day.
We're now back in Puerto Princessa for New Years as immigration are closed and we won't be able to leave until the 2nd but we wont be bored. Today our new genset started puffing some white smoke and the temperature gauge started to climb so we shut it down immediately to discover the raw water pump impeller had decided it would have a nervous breakdown and shed all bar one of its blades.
Two hours of fishing out little bits of black rubber from the genset hoses and heat exchanger was a lot of fun but she's now purring along. We then thought we'd have a look at the main engine water pump impeller seeing we had all the spares out and scattered across the saloon.
Unfortunately, unlike our Northern LIghts genset impeller cover, which has hexagon nuts and easily loosened with a ring spanner, the Ford Lehman has pan-head screws which we can't access because the oil cooler heat exchangers for the engine and gearbox are in the way. I could just get our smallest flat blade screwdriver in there and possibly undo them, but there's no way I'm going to be able to tighten them up again without removing the heat exchangers. Always the way!
But as the saying goes, 'if it's not broken….'
The main engine exhaust is pumping out water just fine so we'll leave it for now although I have just found in one of our holds, a brand new, spare Northern Lights raw water pump complete with hexagon nuts on the impeller housing cover. I'm hoping they are the same thread size as the Ford Lehman pan-head screws. If so, when it comes time to change the main engine impeller, I'll swap them over and may just be able to avoid having to remove all the oil coolers.
Oh the joys!
Fair winds and a happy New Year to you all
Australis II
Show Posts
