November 5, 2014
NM – 238 miles
We traveled along and all I could see for miles was the beautiful blue water. An occasional group of dolphins in the distance and I also saw flying fish. Of course I could not get the camera on quick enough to capture the photo ops. I noticed the cover on the dinghy had come loose and was draping along the back of the dinghy and in the water. John slowed the boat down and put on a life jacket to venture out and pull the cover inside. A few hours later about 3:30 we noticed that the dinghy was having trouble and was getting beat up by the constant up and down of the boat in the waves. John again slowed down and went out to secure the dinghy. We radioed EuFLORia that we were having issues with the dinghy and we’re going to try and secure it better. This was approximately 4:o0 pm.
Seemed like the issues with the dinghy went on for a few hours. John finally tied a dock line to the front of the dinghy and attached to the cleat on the back of the boat so that it would not fall off the cradle on the swim platform. The sunset was beautiful looking over the water in the west. I took several shots between 6:50 pm and 7:06 pm. and we began to settle in for the long night ahead of us.
Moving along mesmerized by the beauty of the water for miles all around us. You could see the moon rising and then the sun started to set. Sunsets and moon rises look so differently over the water than when at home. Just beautiful. Shortly after sunset we started hearing a short beep. We were looking at all the gauges and listening to where the beep was coming from. Then we heard a long beep – Port Engine down!! We radioed EuFLORia that an engine was down and John was going below to check on the problem. I take over driving.
7:28 pm – “EuFLORia! This is No Schedule! John returned and said we have 2 feet of water in the bottom of the boat!” He turned on 3 bilge pumps (not sure why they did not come one when water approached), shut down port engine and closed seacock! ( A seacock is a valve on the hull of a boat or ship, permitting water to flow into the vessel, such as for cooling an engine.) Adrenaline starts pumping! Stay focused! You got this! Drive – follow course! I kept thinking why is this happening!! Praying!!
EuFLORia turned around and was at our side within minutes. They had on their life jackets and ready to lower the dingy if needed. They circled us making sure that all the pumps were pumping water. They told me to stay into the waves and to focus on the light ahead which turned out to be a sailboat ahead of us. John made a mark where the water was in the boat to be sure that we were winning the battle and the water was going down. We were WINNING! After 4.5 hours the water was pretty much out. Bilge pumps took care of most water and John used the sump pump to pump water from one compartment to another where the bilge pumps could pump it out. He also used the wet-vac to pump water and carry up and over the side. Water was in front stateroom under floor locker where all of John’s tools were. Water was in Master stateroom in back of boat in under floor lockers and also the carpet in the back was all wet. John said that the water in the lockers forced the hatches open when we went over waves which then came into the stateroom. The engine room center walkway and both sides full of water. He could see right away what some of the damage would be. House battery underwater, new rear thruster underwater, both salon and master A/C pumps underwater. Genset was safe though.
At about midnight we were resting and John was doing hour checks on the engine room. No more water coming in the boat. We were still on one engine which did slow down our travel. I was blessed that the dogs slept through all the drama and were not in our way all night. We should have probably put on our life jackets and theirs but our minds never went to that scenario. We were focused on the task at hand to get our home out of danger.
1:30 am – EuFLORia! This is No Schedule! Calling them on our handheld radio. Electronics shutting down, chart plotter, radar, radio, auto pilot, navigation lights, GPS!! John immediately went down below to switch around the batteries. Batteries were not charging so he radioed John on EuFLORia and asked about turning on generator. Yes!! Great idea. He turned on the GenSet so that it would keep batteries charged. Slowly electronics started coming back on. The rest of the night – about 5 hours of darkness we stayed behind EuFLORia within radio contact.
6:40 am Sunrise – Now time to watch for crab pots. The worst was behind us. Original destination was Clearwater but decided to continue on to Rivera Dunes Marina. We traveled on the gulf side where the water was smooth and crab pots were not as bad as they normally were. We were not comfortable shutting down our one engine to anchor out in Clearwater bay when we did not know where the water was coming in. So another 5 hours added to the trip but so happy to be at a marina by 2:00 pm. We were all exhausted but could not rest/sleep so we decided to have a nice dinner at the BluMan Grove restaurant at the marina. That is where John and Jackie told us we probably only had 30 minutes until our boat was lost. It was so low in the water especially in the aft. WOW! I had no idea that it was so critical. John and I were in survivor mode and making sure that our home was secure we never went to the thought of it sinking completely.
Lessons learned!! Check engine room hourly for any problems that may arise and catch it early.
After several days of checking out boat and having mechanics check port engine we realized that the port engine and seacock was not the problem. John continued for days to figure out where the water encroached the boat. He had more mechanics and a surveyor on board also to check it over. One suggested to check exhaust in case that was the path. John check the exhaust path and then he noticed that water was in the Cablemaster locker (where electrical cords are stowed). On the swim platform there is a locker to store items. John crawled down into the locker could not believe what he saw. About a 1″ gap all around the top of the locker right into the engine room. We decided that water filled the locker and then went right into the engine room. Needless to say that gap has been closed!
People have asked if we will cross again. We Will!! We plan on completing the Great Loop in 2016. We took the first few months in Florida getting the boat repaired and taking a couple of side trips.
Donna
November 5, 2015 at 11:19 pmCan’t believe this was one year ago today. So grateful we are still talking and the boat didn’t go down. So blessed.