Decision Time
21 February 2016 | Ft. Meyers Beach Mooring Field
Jill
We got up Friday morning with the intention of heading out to an anchorage off Marco Island, the first leg to Marathon and then on to the Bahamas. I told Bud that in all honesty I was not looking forward to the trip. His reply startled me. He said we should just go back and get a mooring ball at Ft. Meyers Beach and then perhaps we should plan to return to Palmetto to prepare the boat for sale. So we came back here and we are on the same ball we were before.
That evening, as we sat down to eat we heard the bilge pump run. That was odd, as it had been dry, and even though we ran the engine, we had put a lubricant on the stuffing in the stuffing box and very little moisture came through, not enough to lift the switch on the bilge pump. A couple of minutes later, the fresh-water pump came on. I immediately thought we had a fresh water leak. Bud said perhaps it was just close to coming on from the last use and it was coincidence, but I knew he was just wishing that were true. The bilge pump and then the fresh water pump came on again. Bud said we’d made the right decision to turn back.
We looked for a leak and found water around the fresh water pump, but couldn’t tell where it was coming from. So we turned off the fresh water pump, ran the bilge pump until the bilge was as dry as we could get it, and went to bed.
The next morning we went ashore to walk Matey and take showers and then came back to tackle the job. Both of us had decided independently that we should dry out the area around the fresh water pump, turn it back on to pressurize the system and try to see where the water came from. I did the drying, as I can better reach around under the floorboards. When I had it thoroughly dry Bud switched the pump back on. Soon I saw a trickle of water from a tiny hole under the pump. But I had figured out that was a pass-through from the area behind the pump, and when I reached in there with some paper towels they came out soaked. So the water was coming from behind us. Bud took off all the doors for the spaces under the aft sink and around the shower. I got down with a light and immediately saw dripping. Some drying and investigation showed it to come from a “t” in the water line in front of the shower. I tightened all the hose clamps. One seemed loose. After I tightened it the dripping stopped. I dried the area and we pressurized the system again (actually, it still had pressure). No more leak. After about an hour and using the water to do dishes, so the pump ran a couple of times we checked again. All was dry.
I felt pretty good about finding and fixing that problem, and also glad that it had cost nothing. I could tell through the day that Bud was feeling bad to have made the decision to turn back. I told him I would consider carrying on, as I knew he really wanted one last season. I slept poorly last night, I guess with the three year break I’m no longer used to sailing, but the two seasons we had, the experience in Destin and the numerous repairs, have made me aware of what can go wrong and so more anxious than the first time we set out. We talked a bit this morning. I told Bud I didn’t think I could go on and he said he’d really like to at least get to Marathon and the Keys for a bit. Then we could head back and be somewhere (probably Palmetto) to work on the boat by the beginning of April so we could have it ready for sale before the really hot weather set in. So that’s the plan.
The sun is setting on our cruising life, just as it sets in this image of Ft. Meyers Beach. There will be those of you who are disappointed for us, and it is a hard decision, but we will have other choices once the boat is sold. There will be those of you who are disappointed in us, and I can only say, Earendil will be for sale in May, have at it.