We, Dulcinea and Golightly, sailed out of Samana Bay late in the afternoon and headed SE hugging the coast of the D.R., to derive benefit from the land breeze that comes up at night, off the land. This helps limit the effect of the trade winds coming out of the east It was a good sail. As usual, motor sailing most of the time. But when we could turn the engine off, it was great sailing. The following evening, at about 19:00, the wind drops and I turn the key and...nothing! Dead. No wind and no motor. And a 2kt current setting to the north. We were still about 18 miles out of Boqueron but only 9 miles south of a small island called Isla Desecheo. I went below to see if there was a loose connection or maybe the bendix had stuck. Tapped what I could and checked all connections. Still no joy. I have a spare starter motor aboard. So out with that. Was trying to remove the old one but the bottom bolt is impossible to remove. A special tool would be required. I'm not that tool!
And we are still drifting towards that island.
I thought it was prudent to give US Coast Guard a call on the radio. It was now about 22:30. They were very helpful. Gave me a couple of options which included SeaTow, an outfit that does tows, fuel drops etc. Then I remembered, just before I had left Florida, I had joined them, just in case. Dulcinea kindly stayed with me until they knew that the tow boat was on the way, then proceeded to Boqueron.
The closest boat was in Ponce, on the south coast and could reach me in about 3.5 hours. USCG relayed all the details to them, including my membership number. All good. At this stage a light breeze had come up out of the east, so I flew the jib, just to hold me against the current.
They arrived at about 02:30 and took me in tow. At 5-6 kts, it was a comfortable ride. We arrived in Boqueron Bay just after sunrise. Went alongside at the Club Nautico marina. The Seatow guys had contacted Homeland security and the came down from Mayaguez. I then had to go to Mayaguez to get a visa as I was under the impression that I could use the visa waiver. Wrong! $585 later, I'm good for 6 months.
While I was away from the boat, a marine mechanic came down and sorted the starter motor out. I still don't quite know what he did, but it's good now. I believe it was a loose connection on the solenoid, but I did check that??