Tough Day, Looking Forward to Tomorrow

Thursday started with an eager 5:00 a.m. wake up to get back underway in hopes of making it to our next anchorage off Dauphin Island, AL.  It didn’t take too long for us to know that the tide had left us in the night as we could see UP to the dock we were tied to in the harbor (while the night before, we were stepping down to it). We took advantage of the time by going back to sleep for a bit, enjoying a great brunch aboard, and getting in some housecleaning.

Once the tide released us from the harbor around noon, we made great progress under full sails on a beautifully sunny day. With only about four hours of daylight left, we decided to anchor off Horn Island inside the Mississippi Sound. A pristine island but very rolly anchorage made for a restless night. We’re still getting used to the whole waterbed effect.

Horn Island, MS

Around 9:00 p.m., we noticed the bilge pump was running more often than normal. Matt went to check it out and discovered a drip, drip, drip from the raw water pump. After tightening a loose screw the drip ceased and we assumed all was well. Since he already had the engine bay open, he decided to go ahead and check the oil then to save a little time on the next morning’s prep routine. It was then that he discovered that our engine crank case was FULL of water. And I mean full. Like a couple healthy gallons full. Ehem, that’s. not. good. at. all.

A quick taste test (eww) revealed that it was salt water which made it even harder to diagnose. We were baffled at how salt water could have gotten into the crank case. After reading the engine manual and a couple reference books (How To Be Your Own Diesel Mechanic, etc.), we narrowed the issue down to the raw water pump seal. We sent off a few “our situation” emails asking for advice and went to bed with plans to call our diesel mechanic (thanks Russell!) first thing the next morning.

Well, that leads us to today. Goooooood morning! The calls started at 6:30 a.m. For the next several hours Matt swapped calls and began taking apart the pump. We decided to play it safe and call for a tow to River City Harbor Marina rather than risk further issues by running a faulty engine. Also, while we had all the necessary parts and know-how  onboard (thanks Matt!), we needed a tool that wasn’t (bearing press or vice). After calling the tow boat at 7:00 a.m., he finally showed up a little after noon from being trapped in his bayou with low tide. Within those five hours, it felt as if the weight of all the engine issues, running agrounds, and general lifestyle changes started to bear down on us (well, me more than Matt but when one crew is down, the whole boat gets down). This became our most trying and disheartening day yet.

After a looooong tow in, we docked safely and with equally long hot showers, we took some time to decompress. We are going to sleep tonight with intentions of resetting in the morning and pray that we have renewed enthusiasm for this adventure. And also for an easy solve and repair in the morning.

Kaleo under tow