Continuing from the previous blog after the Boat US tow boat left us we put up our sails and continued on our way to the Rhode River. But the wind began to die and we just made it to the mouth of the South River when we decided 1 knot of speed wasn't gonna cut it. Plus it was now getting dark. As we all know, with no wind power there is no steering so we were forced to turn on the engine to putt putt us over to the side of the river in a decent anchorage. The engine came on fine but we noticed there was no water coming out of the exhuast. That's not good.

We threw over our new 45 lb Claw and easily made our spot in 14 feet of water. It wasn't a cool island but it would do just fine. I went back down to the engine compartment determined to get the water flowing again. I noticed a slight leak at one of the hose connections so I tightened that and tightened all the other hose connections. Christine turned the engine on again while I looked for more water leaks but there was none. There was however alot of water in the oil pan, but no dripping. There was still no water coming out of the exhaust so we turned the engine off and enjoyed our night.



No point in having all these complications if we can't enjoy ourselves. Steak for dinner! and kitten for entertainment (and rum ofcourse).




Our anchorage turned out to be rather peaceful and we awoke well rested. Opting not to use the engine again we sailed off the anchor. Don't let me make this sound easy because it was not. Over the winter we purchased a new 45 lb Claw anchor with 75 feet of high test chain (and 225 ft rope) and a manual windless to hoist it. However with all the trouble we had with the Garmin and Autopilot, the windless never got installed. So me being the barely stonger of us went up on the bow to pull this hunk of metal up. While I was pulling up the anchor Christine did a great job of turning the boat back and forth as I needed and then sailing straight enough to yank the Claw out of the mud. After about a 5 minute battle we had the anchor back on the bow.

We were pointed north so I decided we should go up and around the first buoy in the bay to take advantage of the wind we now had. We only had the Genny up though and although this is our favorite sail it doesn't sail to the wind well. We were sailing north along the coast we had just anchored at and I couldn't get her pointed further away from the shoal. So we attempted to tack and head back. I guess we still had some cobwebs to brush off cuz we didn't do a good job. After about 3 attempts to tack or gybe and the wind just pushing us back the way we came, I attempted to turn the engine on to cheat and get us away from the impending shoal. The engine came on but as soon as I threw it in forward it stalled. Then the gear shifter would not return to neutral, it was stuck in forward. Great, no engine to save us. It must have been high tide because we were now more than half way across the reported shoal and almost in deeper water. So we just kept sailing north again and soon we were out of danger.



Needless to say the stressful situation created a quiet atmosphere for the next hour or so. We need to get this boat back to our slip before we do anymore damage. We attempted another tack to get headed back south but it just pointed us directly at the shoal we had just missed so we gybed and headed out further into the bay to get a better angle. It was a lil while later when I saw two boats headed in the exact direction I wanted to go but couldn't. I noticed they had there main sail up and we still did not. So we put up the main sail and tacked back south again. This time we were much closer to the wind and were aimed south and away from the shoal. We were headed home!

One of the reasons we liked the Genoa was because it was easy to deploy while the main was hard and often got stuck. Well since we replaced one of the damaged slider pieces the main has been going up much easier. And now we know the main sail is intregal to sailing close to the wind.



I didn't mind that we ended up sailing further out into the bay because atleast we were sailing, but it was nice to be headed home. We were able to stay on that single tack all the way down the river. On the way down I went below to check out the engine again and see why the gear was stuck in forward. I couldn't figure it out, it was just stuck. But now that I was in the aft section of the engine compartment I discovered our water leak. The plastic muffler had melted and there was a gaping hole in it. This was where all of the water had leaked out into our oil pan. There was also oil sprayed around this area, it was a mess.

So I came back up and told Christine the news. I briefly tried to convince her we could sail into our slip but she wisely convinced me to call Boat US again. I now had them on my cell phone and gave them a rang. The lady remembered me from the night before and said they'ed be there in 30 minutes.

While we were waiting and sailing toward our slip the wind died down and eventually we lost all wind power again. Our sad lil boat just floated there in the river waiting for the tow boat. The power boats dictated where we went as their wakes pushed us back and forth. Soon we were floating toward a tall Green Marker. We slowly floated right up to it and had to push our selves off the marker. Embarrassing.



Boat US tow boat got there soon after and towed us the last 5 minutes into our slip. Also embarrassing. But we were home now and the "adventure" was over. We cleaned up a lil and treated ourselves to our favorite restaurant, The Original Steakhouse. We needed the pick me up as we discussed the possible damage to our engine.

Experience is what we want and experience is what we got. I'll leave you all with a few Sailing Wisdoms we now better appreciate.


"The ease and success of launching and docking is inversely proportional to the number of witnesses"

"If you get embarassed easily then sailing's not for you."

"if you haven't been aground, you haven't been around."

"It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others."

"Working on the boat is the reason for owning a boat. Going on a voyage is only to ensure that there will be something to work on when you get back."

"Definition of Adventure: Agony in retrospect."

"EXPERIENCE, is what you get . . . about 5 seconds after you need it."


But still my favorite: "A bad day on the water still beats a good day at work"



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