Held Hostage
12 May 2016 | 21 11.6'N:157 42'W, Sailing to Honolulu
Scuppers
Held hostage - by one's own engine.
Big seas, big wind, sail changes for sure - bring it on. But, will the engine start - and not stop? This morning - nothing - period.
Over the last two legs the key occassionally (intermittently) did nothing. Hmmmm. Always did start after a few/several minutes apart turns. But not today. Nada.
Switch, solenoid, starter, batteries on, kill lever down ??? Removed starter panel and all looked well. Finally, reinflate dinghy and go to shore and ask around " Try jumping the key switch/ Then maybe the engine starter solenoid?" Been there a couple of times - hard to see , harder to get to Key switch panel off jumping various wires -nada.
Engine access opened - long reach behind compressor and alternator belts to reach the starter motor and solenoid , key on - jump a couple of big wires and BANG - STARTED!!! TG!
So two hours late (Alpine start shot) we were off. Honolulu here we come with yet another item to fix. Rarely a dull day, this is a sweet ultimate port before Bamfield!!