Pursuit

We had a nice sail over to Moorea. It felt so good to be on the go again with a major amount of work having been done to Pursuit. The boat got a real good going over and a lot of the little jobs got done that had been on the list for quite some time. I wanted to motor over to Moorea to start out. It was only 20 miles and I figured it would be a good sea test to check for leaks, strange noises or anything else before we took off too far. I had done a lot of things everywhere on Pursuit, both inside and out. Motor, electronics, pumps, sails...so I wanted to make sure everything was good to go. We were about halfway to Moorea, and during a routine check of the engine compartment, I noticed the small raw water hose from the engine oil cooler was leaking. We shut done the engine and pulled out the sails. It was a good day for sailing and the sun was shining. No problem. I had spare hose on board, so it figured it was a quick fix along the way. I changed the hose and decided to re-check the oil levels on the engine and transmission while they were off. The transmission was low again. I had noted the low oil before, but assumed it was to do with the oil cooler having failed and it's replacement. I knew I had topped it off when we left Tahiti for Moorea though. Now it was low. Something was up. I topped it off again and started the engine. I looked everywhere and eventually saw the leak. It was dripping out of a small hole in the bottom of the starter. The shaft seal between the transmission and the engine had failed and allowed the oil to get into the engine bell housing and then into the starter somehow. Strange how the oil managed to get there, but that was where the oil was coming from. By now we were almost to Moorea, so we decided to sail there and figure out what we were going to do.

It was so nice to be in a secluded bay again after being in busy Tahiti. We were the only sailboat in Cook's Bay. We wanted to keep going through the rest of the Society Islands, but we knew we had to head back to Tahiti for repairs. I thought we could maybe take our chances and sail 100 miles or so to Riatea, and hope that they could fix it there, but I knew what services and parts they have in Tahiti and I knew I could get the leak fixed there. I was thinking originally about getting hauled out in Riatea, but now I will do it in Tahiti. I wanted to make sure the hull was good and repair any damage that may have occurred from Toau, so now we could get hauled out at the same time as we are fixing the transmission. I had also damaged the depth transducer and needed to replace it. I felt like I was living that scene from "The Godfather". "Every time I think am out (of Tahiti), they pull me back in." We decided to stay an extra day in Moorea though. It was such an amazing day and it felt so good to be in a remote bay again. Peaceful. Later in the day were joined in Cook's Bay by another boat. Danny and Yvonne on Ocean Pearl anchored beside us. Danny invited us over for a sundowner later and we had a great time. I was happy to be back cruising again and not stuck at an anchorage making repairs, but what a drag to have to turn around and head back to Tahiti. I have had enough of repairs. It is time to just pull out the Mastercard and just give 'er shit. Get it fixed and get going again. The next day we figured we had better head back to Tahiti for round two of Papeete repairs. We went straight to a relatively new haul out facility, called TechniMarine, in Papeete. They have the equipment and people to get stuff fixed fast. We don't want to be in Tahiti forever and I think this will just allow us to get it properly done quick and get going again. Bora Bora and the rest of the Society Islands await us. Go, Team Pursuit! Git 'er done!